Whodunnit: Murders of a Red Herring, Episode 4: Staring at a Screen
Start The guests are relaxing with a nice in-room breakfast. Then, a fire alarm goes off. All of the guests gather, except for Monroe. The guests follow Giles to the study, where the door is locked tight. Sparks escape under the door. Giles finally rams the door in with an extinguisher. He sprays the first flaming object he sees, which is the computer, when he notices a charred victim looking at the screen. The guests shriek with the realization that Monroe, a likely suspect, is lying dead before their eyes. The Crime Scene Andrew, Toby, Pabla, Ari and Neveah visit the crime scene, the study. They enter through a back door, where they realize why Giles had struggles entering. A large bolt was dropped over the door, and a sensor indicates something else activated it. The glass has been blasted off of the screen, allowing electrical sparks to fly. They notice that the computer mouse has been completely ripped out of the computer, but then are contradicted, as nothing is attached to the computer.Shards of the broken glass are across the room, and a tray with chocolatey crumbs on it lies knocked over on the floor. Victim's Last Known Whereabouts James, Lexi, Samantha, Jason and Lori visit the suite of Monroe, the last place he was before dying. His door is open, implying he left with the intention of coming back in the near future. A note states that "the delicacies above thy vessel attached shall serve thy well." A small fraction of crumbs are on the counter near the note and on the floor. He also has a list of his thoughts on who the killer/game host was, as well as possible passwords and usernames for the computer. His notepad has several pages ripped out of it with haste, and shading reveals a message about how he was going to "kill this killer if it was the last thing he did." Morgue Shawn, Doris and Zayn decide to go to the morgue. The first thing they notice are several shards of glass sticking out of his neck and face. Burns scatter his body, in several showers of sparks. His mouth is puffy, with the slight smell of chocolate. Cookie pieces fill his cheeks, in the small space where their is air. This leaves no room for him to breathe,suggesting he either died first or died from the puff. Riddle This riddle features a tank of oil. The oil is cool, and within it are dollar bills laminated, with the riddle written on it. The riddle is also read aloud as: "You've made money out of oil, just like our deceased guest, To solve this riddle, you'll have to do your best, Chop into a cherry tree, like they say Georgie did, Or you could munch like him, or take a bid, You can say he flushed his life down the drain, Or you can visually show him trying to get back what he unfairly gained." Toby, Zayn and Andrew team up again to solve the riddle. While some go towards the garden, with the idea of a cherry tree, what they don't know is that they need something first. Only the trio knows that the line about "flushing" refers to literal flushing. They run to the toilets in the bathroom, where they find a trapdoor. They slide into the room, which guides them into tunnels beneath the garden. Following labels, they find the roots of a cherry blossom tree. They pull away the bark, revealing a key and inscription against the skin. They direct to the kitchen, where the key opens a dry foods drawer. A piece of paper is behind glass, out of view. By inserting the bill, a copy of the paper is printed out before them. It is Monroe's application form, with two sections circled: MEDICAL CONDITIONS and PAST OCCUPATIONS. The first category reveals a life-threatening allergy to peanuts, and the second reveals that before his rise to wealth, he was a firefighter. Finding that FIRE and PEANUTS are underlined, as well as that a combination is revealed when his age, 58, aligns with the one on the bill, they survey the oven. A fourth number, 8, is sketched on it. By inserting 5818 on a cupboard lock, they open it, revealing a box of cookie batter and cup of peanuts, as well as a rigging schematic for a fake mouse and exploding screen. By plugging in 8888 on the oven, they reveal a hot cookie tray with the lingering smell of peanuts on it. Winners, Losers and a Solution Toby once again won the round. This was his correct theory: When the killer received an application from Monroe for the contest, they took quick note of the fact that he was 1) allergic to peanuts, and 2) had been a firefighter, with the intention of killing him with fire. When Monroe became Scared, they made a special cookie platter with peanuts buried deep within them, and a note attached. The victim had been planning to go to the study to look things up, and had a list of log-ins and suspects. He tasted one of the cookies, not hitting the peanut, and was satisfied. He entered the study, where he sat down with the tray. Unbeknownst to him, the mouse was a fake, and the real had been carefully detached. When his temper was all but destroyed, he yanked the false mouse. This activated a sensor, dropping a bolt down over the door. The killer then flicked the fire alarm, causing the guests to flee outside. Monroe, realizing he was trapped, starting to eat cookies, sure he would survive. He got to the peanuts, which he inhaled, puffing his throat and giving him a rash. Either dead or incapacitated, Monroe couldn't move as a second sensor expired, breaking the glass on the computer and stabbing him on his face and in his throat. As if to nail down his death with even more certainty, the killer rigged it to spit sparks out, badly burning Monroe. Challenge Winner (s): Andrew, Zayn and Toby Best Theory: Toby Spared: Zayn, Andrew, James, Pabla, Samantha, Ari, Neveah and Lexi Scared: Jason, Doris, Shawn and Lori 16:08, April 25, 2015 (UTC)Jacob Garofalo